Category Archives: design

I feel the need for seed. Wait…

I thought I had a chance at this Northrup King Northern Grown Tested Seeds box at Saturday’s North Star Auction, but I’ll skip the middle part of the story and say it ended at $775 and I didn’t even get my hand up. One of the best vintage illustrations and designs I’ve seen, and also one of the best preserved. Magnificent!

Northrup King Northern Grown Tested Seeds box
Northrup King Northern Grown Tested Seeds box
Northrup King Northern Grown Tested Seeds box

Bill Boley was a madman.

Fresh from an antique store in Bismarck, a 1952 book on how to make different typefaces by hand. Thank God for computers (on the 8th day).

Bodoni the old-old-old-school way. I bodon’t think so.

Beauty is in the eye of the beh… AHHHHHHH!

I saw this floor display for Mission Athletic Care in our local Lowe’s Home Improvement store and I can’t decide if this assembled quirk is a design fail or design win.

Eye caramba!

Eye caramba!

Let’s call it a fawin.

Sometimes my contact lenses feel like this.

Sometimes my contact lenses feel like this.

If you thought those Star Wars prequels were bad, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!

Step right up and don’t be shy, because you will not believe your eyes!

Behold, the carnival-attraction majesty of Space Odyssey 2000!

Space Odyssey 2000 is not to be confused with “2001: A Space Odyssey” — It’s completely different! Totally different! Continue reading

Heinz shows us that not all labels are bad.

Heinzsight. I love it when somebody takes a brand and puts more into it than they have to. In this case, Heinz did some sweet seasonal ketchup bottle labels — They didn’t have to, but they did, and that made it better. Brand personality, yo.

Groovy work, Heinz. I hope you do something like this again soon.

NOTE: I was told there was also a summer beachball tomato label, but alas, I was not in time.

“In the future, everyone will be hydrated for 15 minutes.”

In 1983, Andy Warhol created over 40 screen prints featuring Perrier bottles.

In 2013, Perrier created 4 Perrier bottle labels as a tribute to Andy Warhol.

In 2015, Clayton Hove found them on a dusty K-Mart shelf in Bismarck, North Dakota, and bought them because he thought they were kinda neat.

Excellent work, USA Today.

Branding done right.